In 1862, we see that Tom had an adventurous spirt about him … In the 1850s and again in the early 1860s, there were gold rushes out to British Columbia. In 1862, Tom along with his brother William and a few other local residents set out to discover gold at Fraser’s River, Vancouver Island. I don’t know exactly what they discovered although William did return to Glascoed by the mid-late 1860s. What happened to Tom? Did he stay in Canada? At this stage, I’m not really sure.

William and Tom’s expedition was recorded by William in a diary and he sent letters to his family, which were published by the Pontypool Free Press in 1862. See these fascinating extracts here and here.